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Marble – A recent statewide survey of teachers sheds insights into each of Cherokee County’s 13 public school campuses.
An article in the Aug. 7 edition of the Cherokee Scout gave an overview of results from the survey, which looked into teacher working conditions. An article in the Aug. 14 edition revealed results alphabetically, from Andrews Elementary School through Hiwassee Dam High School.
This week, the Scout looks into the survey results campus by campus from Murphy Elementary School to Tri-County Early College High School. Here are some trends, school by school:
Murphy Elementary School
(46 out of 50 responded)
Murphy Elementary School results were comparable to other Cherokee County elementary schools with a few notable exceptions. Almost a third of teachers say school leadership doesn’t know what is going on in their classrooms and doesn’t create a culture of trust.
Slightly fewer (69.57% school compared to 76.06% district-wide) said they assist in determining professional development, with slightly more (67.39% school compared to 62.93%) saying they assist in determining the school budget. Similar numbers were reported for establishing student discipline procedures.
With student conduct, a third reported bullying, just under half reported disorder in and out of classroom, 58.7% reported student disrespect of teachers, one-third reported tardiness/skipping class, and 23.91% reported threats of violence toward teachers.
Safety and well being received 80 percent or better, but just 52.17 percent said students arrive at school with the necessary school supplies, clean clothes, food and sleep, and 69.57% said the school provides adequate services to help students with social, emotional and mental health needs.
In facilities and resources, building maintenance scored low, with 37.21% saying that building maintenance was sufficient and only just over half, 58.14%, saying building security was sufficient.
Under professional learning and support, teachers agreed that professional development meeting individual teacher needs; time to think about, try and evaluate new ideas; and opportunities to work productively with colleagues at their school all scored in the 60%.
Murphy Middle School
(19 out of 19 responded)
While results from this school generally align with district-wide averages, some areas took hits, especially in the category of school leadership. They include:
u Atmosphere of trust and mutual respect in the school: 68.42% agreed compared to 84.56% district-wide.
u School leadership knows what’s going on in their classroom: 63.16% agreed, compared to 81.47% district-wide.
u School leadership helps teachers set clear and actionable goals for improving student learning: 52.63% agreed, compared to 83.01% district-wide.
Similar numbers were reported in other campus leadership areas, including ensuring that teachers receive coaching and support to implement new practice, leadership creates a culture of trust in the building, leadership makes decisions based on the best interest of their students, leadership looks out of the well being of faculty members, leadership effectively manages daily operations at the school, and leadership makes decisions that are reasonable and justified.
Just 26.32% said they participate in the hiring process compared to 48.26% district-wide.
Managing student conduct fell well below district averages:
- Students follow the rules for student conduct (42.11% school, 81.08% district-wide).
- Teachers routinely enforce the rules for student conduct (78.95% vs. 93.82%).
- School leadership supports teachers’ efforts to maintain discipline in the classroom (52.63% vs. 84.17%).
- School leadership routinely enforces rules for student conduct (42.11% vs. 81.08%).
On the other hand, 89.47% said the school uses positive behavioral interventions and supports, compared to 86.10% district-wide.
For student conduct, issues were significantly higher than district-wide across the board: bullying (73.68% vs. 41.31%); cheating (47.37% vs. 30.89%); cyberbullying (47.37% vs. 26.25%); disorder in the classroom (63.16% vs. 35.91%) and outside the classroom (84.21% vs. 45.86%); drug/alcohol use (73.68% vs. 33.98%); physical conflict among students (73.68% vs. 35.91%); robbery or theft (26.32% vs. 12.74%); student disrespect of teachers (84.21% vs. 50.58%); threats of violence toward teachers (31.58% vs. 14.67%); and vandalism (47.37% vs. 19.69%).
Bright spots were gang activity (none), student possession of weapons (none), and tardiness/skipping class, which was fairly even with district-wide and state averages (mid-50% range).
Just 68.42% of teachers said that school safety issues were addressed quickly, compared to 89.19% district-wide.
On the bright side, 100% of teachers said they know what to do in an emergency and that they are award of content in their emergency operation plan.
Facilities and resources also took a hit, unsurprising since Murphy Middle School is one of Cherokee County’s campuses most in need of renovation or replacement.
More than a third said building cleanliness was insufficient, just 44.44% said building comfort was sufficient, while 55.56% said building maintenance and building security were sufficient.
Teachers said they provide parents with useful information about student learning (100%) but fewer than half (47.37%) said parents support teachers, contributing to their success with students and 52.63% said the community supports teachers.
These numbers will undoubtedly be concerning to parents and students, including Ranger students who are shifting to Murphy Middle this fall.
Murphy High School
(19 of 19 responded)
Murphy High School’s teachers were generally more favorable about their school than their counterparts in neighboring Murphy Middle School. The high school teachers reported behavior issues with students as one expects of high schoolers, and problems with the campus facility, which the school district has discussed replacing.
The percentage of teachers who said they wouldn’t work in any other school was slightly lower than district-wide (61.29% vs. 75.29%), but just under 84% said they are loyal to the school and 93.55% said they would recommend it to parents.
The teachers showed faith in leadership comparable to district and state trends. The same holds true for teacher leadership, managing student conduct, safety and well being, community support and involvement, professional learning and support, instructional practices and supports, use of time and equity at the school.
As for student conduct, around half reported bullying, cheating, cyberbullying, physical fights among students and student disrespect of teachers.
Disorder in and out of classrooms was less of an issue than district-wide, while drug/tobacco use was significantly higher (83.87% compared to 33.98%). Physical conflicts among students was reported by 61.29% of teachers compared to 35.91% district-wide. Robbery/theft was reported by 3.23% vs. 12.74% district-wide. Tardiness came in at 87.1% vs. 51.74% district-wide. Vandalism was reported by just under a third of teachers.
Teachers also reflected dissatisfaction with the school facility. Just 45.16% said building comfort was sufficient, 41.94% said building maintenance was sufficient, and 54.86% said building security was sufficient.
Professional development differentiated to meet the need of individual teachers underperformed, with 58.06% agreeing at the school compared to 73.75% district-wide.
Martins Creek Elementary/Middle
(16 of 16 responded)
Martins Creek loses its middle school in the coming school year, with middle schoolers being bused to Murphy Middle.
That should be a disappointment to the Martins Creek middle schoolers. Martins Creek’s numbers were better than district-wide in nearly every category, especially student conduct, with lower rates of bullying, cheating, cyberbullying, classroom disorder, drug/tobacco use (just 6.25% of teachers agreed that drug/tobacco use was observed), physical fights, and threats of violence against teachers.
There was no gang activity, no robbery or theft, no student possession of weapons and no vandalism that teachers reported.
As for safety and well being, teachers agreed the campus is safe nearly unanimously. Students even arrive prepared (81.25% vs. 60.62% district-wide) and tardiness/skipping classes is less common (37.5% vs. 51.74% district-wide).
Martins Creek teachers were less contented with school leadership, however. They agreed with every under the school leadership category at a lower rate than district-wide.
Peachtree Elementary School
(14 of 14 responded)
Teachers at Peachtree Elementary were generally upbeat about their campus, with it receiving high numbers in positive areas and low numbers in negative areas.
Teachers were happy with their campus leadership, training, resources, community support and professional support. They were even happier with building maintenance than district-wide (76.92% vs. 65.87%).
One-hundred-percent agreement with questions was frequent throughout the survey.
The only underperforming areas were in student conduct. The school outperformed the district in bullying, cheating, cyberbullying, drug/tobacco use, physical conflicts among students, robbery or theft, student possession of weapons, tardiness/skipping class, threats of violence toward teachers and vandalism.
But the school performed worse than district-wide in disorder in and out of the classrooms, gang activity, robbery/theft, student possession of weapons, , threats of violence toward teachers and vandalism.
Ranger Elementary/Middle School
(26 of 26 responded)
Ranger teachers seem to be the happiest faculty in Cherokee County. They responded favorably across the board, from teacher and campus leadership to facilities, parental involvement, procedures and student conduct.
The only area that did not perform as well or better than district-wide averages was gang activity – 3.85% said gang activity was an issue at the school, compared to 2.7% district-wide.
Ranger will be accepting elementary school students from Hiwassee Dam in the fall, while its middle schoolers will be going to Hiwassee Dam.
The Oaks Academy
(12 of 12 responded)
The Oaks Academy, which was moved to the Schools of Innovation & Technology in Peachtree after occupying the old Marble Elementary School, received positive responses from its faculty.
Of the responses, 100% agreement was frequent through the survey.
The teachers had positive feedback for school leadership and generally felt it was a good place to work – 100% said they are loyal to the school, 83.33% said they wouldn’t want to work in any other campus, and 91.67% would recommend the school to parents, to name some examples.
Some outliers were reported compared to other Oaks Academy results: 50% reported bullying (compared to 41.31% district-wide) and 33.33% reported cyberbullying (compared to 26.25%); and 75% reported student disrespect to teachers compared to 50.58% district-wide. Student possession of weapons, tardiness/skipping class, and vandalism were also slightly higher than county-wide.
Tri-County Early College
(12 of 12 responded)
If Ranger’s faculty are happy, Tri-County Early College High faculty must be in heaven.
Their responses outperformed the rest of the county across-the-board.
Nothing makes a teacher’s job easier than eager students, and Tri-County students fit the mold.
For drug/tobacco use, 16.67% reported observing it, compared to 33.98% district-wide, and 25% reported tardiness/skipping class, compared to 51.74% district-wide.
There was no bullying, cheating, cyberbullying, disorder in and out of classrooms, gang activity, physical fights among students, robber or theft, student possession of weapons, threats of violence toward teachers or vandalism.
In addition, there was no student disrespect of teachers.